I know what it’s like to live the reality behind these statistics. I was once a director of counseling services for a district with a heart-wrenching problem: a suicide rate that was nearly 30x the national average. Ultimately, what helped us face this crisis was getting upstream and identifying struggling students before their mental health problems became acute.

How did we do this? Through gathering data about online student behavior. Let’s face it: many students will open up to search engines and social forums long before they seek help from counselors, teachers or parents. Programs that track and surface relevant student activity can help under-resourced districts and counseling teams, and—as I’ve seen in my own work—they can quite literally save lives.

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It’s not enough to have access to this data, however. You need to know how to use it. Here are a few best practices that helped my district turn what initially felt like an overwhelming amount of data into manageable signals and meaningful action.

1. Adjust your notification settings. As you set up your program, think about which notifications will be most important for your counselors or team and adjust your settings accordingly. That way you can ease in and be sure you’re only receiving notifications about searches and activity that truly require your attention.
2. Map mental health data to responder triage phases. Too much data can feel like noise. Sorting it into a familiar framework helps. For us, mapping online behavior to the four phases of suicidality meant we could quickly identify the students who were most at risk.
3. Contextualize the data and drive meaningful interventions. An isolated notification about a search term in a single browser window simply doesn’t tell you that much. If can pair this with information about what the student was doing before and after that search, you’ll have a much better idea of how to proceed. It is also helpful to have a centralized data dashboard that will provide actionable insights so you can effectively spot trends and know where to apply resources.
4. Separate mental health data from other behavioral data. Some programs allow you to monitor for mental health-related data and other risky online behavior, such as looking up explicit content. But this can be a distraction. Certain searches may be inappropriate for school, but they’re not an indicator of mental health struggles.

Just two weeks into launching this program, I received an “Active Planning” alert notifying me that a student was searching terms like, “How much pain medication does it take to die?”

I could not reach her parents or other listed contacts, so I drove to her home address. The student had a large bottle of medication and a glass of water on her kitchen table. I was able to intervene just in time.

From that moment, I understood how powerful this kind of data could be. My team worked to move toward helping students earlier in their struggles with mental health, and our district began successfully implementing the best practices listed here. Over three years, we reduced the number of students deemed high risk for self-harm from 50 to eight.

With so many students in crisis, counseling teams need to be both empathetic and strategic in how we approach our work. Ultimately, being smart about how we gather and respond to this kind of data will help us identify—and take action to help—the students who need it most.

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In a pattern that has held steady since 2021, teachers said they worked longer hours for lower pay than adults in similar industries, the survey found. Respondents reported working an average of 53 hours per week, with about 15 of these hours “outside of their contracts.”

Just over half of similar working adults—who reported working an average 44 hours per week—described their base pay as adequate; only 36% of teachers shared that sentiment about their salaries. Teachers who felt underpaid said a raise of at least $16,000 would bring them level with other working adults.

Teachers expressed other frustrations, citing student misbehavior and administrative work outside of teaching as major sources of stress this year.

“This is RAND’s fourth consecutive year collecting data that raise concerns about high stress and low pay in the teacher workforce,” Sy Doan, lead author of the report, said in a statement. “Although teacher well-being seems to have stabilized at pre-pandemic levels, our data raise questions about the sustainability of the profession for Black teachers and female teachers in particular.”

Here are some other notable findings from the State of the Teacher survey:

• Black teachers reported working significantly more hours per week and were less satisfied with their workloads.
• Black teachers were also more likely to report inadequate base pay, significantly lower base pay and intentions to leave their job.
• Female teachers reported significantly higher rates of frequent job-related stress and burnout than male teachers, a consistent pattern since 2021.
• Female teachers also reported significantly lower base pay.
• Teachers (24%) are about as likely to report intending to leave their job as are working adults (22%).

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In an op-ed published in The New York Times on Monday, Murthy wrote that the mental health crisis among America’s youth is an emergency, and social media is a primary cause.

“Adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms, and the average daily use in this age group, as of the summer of 2023, was 4.8 hours,” he wrote. “Additionally, nearly half of adolescents say social media makes them feel worse about their bodies.”

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Murthy also contends that while a surgeon general’s warning might better inform parents and keep kids off social media, more needs to be done. He also argues legislation is necessary to protect young people from online dangers, including:

• Online harassment
• Abuse
• Exploitation
• Exposure to extreme violence and sexual content

Congress should act to prevent social media companies from collecting sensitive, personal data and to restrict push notifications, autoplay, infinite scroll and other features “which prey on developing brains and contribute to excessive use,” Murthy asserted.

Companies should also be forced to publicize any data they’ve collected on social media’s health effects. As of now, there is no such requirement. “While the platforms claim they are making their products safer, Americans need more than words,” he concluded. “We need proof.”

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At the same time, 80% of parents and students rely on school districts to provide wellness and mental health resources. As a result, it is more important than ever for districts to maintain strong communication with families to build a strong, healthy school community that is inclusive of those family members. We believe students’ families are helpers, making them key partners in K-12 education ans mental health. Based on my conversations with a wide range of school communities, here are a few keys to improving family engagement.

Making campus inviting

A campus should be inviting to family members and students’ other loved ones. Clark County School District, for example, uses the National PTA’s National Standards for Family-School Partnerships, a set of guidelines that lay out how schools and family organizations can work together to support student success. The standards are built on four “I Principles” of Transformative Family Engagement:

• Inclusive: Does the school embrace and value diverse perspectives?
• Individualized: Does it meet the unique needs of each family and child, rather than focusing on a cookie-cutter approach that may miss individual needs
• Integrated: Does the communication strategy and the school align with the school system as a whole?
• Impactful: Does the school provide the resources families need in order to support student successes?

Clark County also offers a variety of events that include the whole family. Programs, such as the University Family Learning and Family Engagement Centers, aim to provide students and families with educational, leadership and networking information. This includes volunteer and mentorship opportunities, digital academic support in English and Spanish and weekend and evening gatherings designed to bring families into the schools.

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The district also encourages family-led learning and celebrates regular “ceremonies of achievements” to recognize student accomplishments and has also collaborated with The Cook Center for Human Connection to develop and sustain “calm rooms” for students. These spaces help students regulate their emotions during the school day and can be inviting settings for family meetings that make caregivers feel welcomed with relaxing sensory experiences.

Engaging families emotionally

Effective leadership is anchored by emotional connection. Psychologist Kimberly Applewhite notes that emotions help leaders understand the experiences of others. Without that sense of emotional connection, families may feel disconnected from the school environment. To clearly convey that families are part of an ongoing conversation about their child’s education, consider:

• Do you have an outlet to receive feedback?
• Are families taking advantage of that outlet and regularly connecting with your district?

John Bates, a communication expert from Executive Speaking Success, offers neurobiological principles that can prove incredibly helpful when communicating with families:

• Live with the message: Stay with what you have created and the message you have crafted, rather than giving in to the “monkey mind” that has negative things to say about your audience’s perception of your message. Living with the message helps you get a deeper insight into your message and may even provide a fresh look.
• Rearrange and restructure: Your initial take on your communication will likely be too long. That means you can rearrange and restructure it to make it more powerful. Good! Restructure it, read it out loud and cut anything that isn’t directly relevant to the topic at hand.
• Focus on the opening and closing: These segments are the most memorable of any communication and they are what families are most likely to zero in on when they connect with you.

Meeting parents where they live: Online

While face-to-face events and personal emails are powerful ways to build an emotional connection with families, today’s parents will most often interact with their schools through an online portal.

What does your online portal look like for staff and family members? Does it provide timely information and intuitive organization for caretakers to access information quickly and easily? Can they elect to receive messages via text?

If your website isn’t streamlined, chances are, it’s creating a communication barrier between your school and your students’ families. Make sure there are resources, including free community assets and information families may need to know about, on the website. The ParentGuidance.org emblem, for example, can be added to any school website as a no-cost resource for families to get answers to tough questions and emotional scenarios students go through.

The goal of family engagement is not to serve your students’ loved ones but to gain helpers. Engaged family members are more connected to their children’s schools and better prepared to offer the support students need. Effective family engagement starts with a relationship-building process focused on listening.

Inspiring your staff, including valued educators, to implement some of these tools begins with your district administration, then travels down. When staff members have the tools and assets they need to make families and students feel welcomed—and to support mental health—there is an increase in the exchange of ideas, the expression of emotion and the ability to resolve potential problems together.

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Nearly four in 10 LGBTQ+ teens and young adults reported that they or their families have considered moving to another state because of anti-LGBTQ+ policies and laws, such as those that restrict teaching about gender identity. The percentage is even higher among transgender and non-binary young people.

Almost all respondents (90%) said these laws and policies harmed their well-being somewhat or “a lot.” But those are just a few findings among a larger set of troubling conclusions reached by the 2024 edition of Trevor Project’s annual U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People.

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“There is no doubt that this has been a challenging year for LGBTQ+ young people,” says the survey of 18,000 members of the LGBTQ+ community ages 13 to 24 across the U.S. “Yet despite these challenges, including the historic wave of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that has targeted them, these young people remain powerful, optimistic and resilient.”

Similar to past surveys, the 2024 poll found that LGBTQ+ young people continue to experience disproportionate rates of depression, anxiety, risk of suicide and bullying. Just about one-third of high school and college students reported being verbally harassed due to perceptions about their gender identity or sexual orientation. Nearly 50% of the high schoolers said they had been bullied in the past year.

Similar to 2023, about 40% of LGBTQ+ young people reported “seriously considering” suicide in the past year and about half who sought mental health care could not find it.

How to help LGBTQ+ students

The report also offers guidance on how schools, campuses and communities can better support LGBTQ+ young people. Around half of the respondents said their school was gender-affirming and the poll found lower rates of suicide attempts among this group.

School leaders can provide LGBTQ+-affirming spaces, such as gender-neutral bathrooms, and allow young people to use preferred names and pronouns. A large majority of LGBTQ+ students said they have at least one adult at school who supports their LGBTQ+ identity.

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The simple truth is that, like any health challenge, mental health concerns don’t go away on their own—and feeling isolated only exacerbates the issue. According to the CDC, more than 42% of students felt persistently sad or hopeless and nearly one-third experienced poor mental health in 2021.

We need to do away with the stigma that surrounds the topic and make space for our community members to be honest about what they experience and receive support both within and outside of the school system. Mental Health Awareness Month provides an opportunity for all of us to acknowledge mental health struggles and successes and share resources to support living healthier, more balanced lives.

Recognizing the stressors and challenges facing students

Young people undergo physical and mental development as they pass through the education system, which can be intense and stressful even at the best of times. Much of students’ social development also takes place among their peers at school. These factors make school a central location for students’ development—and one of the places where mental health issues can be identified and addressed early.

A recent survey found that nearly 28% of parents identify school-related anxiety or stress as a major reason for their child’s school absences. With chronic absenteeism on the rise in the U.S., addressing students’ mental health concerns can be one strategy for getting them back into the classroom and supporting overall student success.

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Educators play a major role in helping students navigate such development. School counseling resources can give students an outlet to express their feelings and connect them with support and resources. Health classes can provide direct education on mental health disorders and share techniques and practices to support a healthier lifestyle. And school leaders and administrators can help students whose mental health challenges result in disruptive or harmful behavior.

By giving students targeted support and partnering with families to understand the full picture we can work toward better student outcomes. It’s imperative that school and district leaders help students feel safe and supported as they navigate life’s challenges.

Supporting teachers’ mental health and well-being

It’s hard to overstate the impact that educators have on students’ social and emotional development. But, like anyone, educators can experience mental health challenges. Disruptive classrooms, long hours and crisis incidents can create stress and anxiety for teachers—which doesn’t help them to support students.

And of course, being witness to students in crisis can also have an impact on teachers’ well-being. Teachers who don’t feel supported to do their jobs or maintain a healthy work-life balance risk burnout.

The National Institute of Health has reported that the impact of COVID-19 stressors is still affecting teachers. Research has shown that, in 2022, 75% of teachers and 85% of principals reported experiencing frequent job-related stress, with 59% of teachers and 48% of principals experiencing burnout. Districts across the U.S. are facing staffing shortages and low job satisfaction.

It’s imperative that superintendents and district leaders support educators’ mental health—and their own—so that teachers can bring their best selves to the classroom. Providing mental health support like therapeutic and coaching resources, and helping teachers create firm boundaries between work and personal life, can go a long way. Empowering teachers doesn’t just prevent burnout—it lets teachers know that they can trust leadership to prioritize their health and wellness.

How to support mental health in your school community

Building a healthier school community is an ongoing process. If you want to support students and educators in your school or district, these resources are a great place to start:

• WGU: The Importance of Mental Health Awareness in Schools
• National Alliance on Mental Illness: Mental Health Awareness Month Resources
• Youth.gov: School-Based Mental Health
• SAMHSA: Tips and Resources for Mental Health Awareness Month

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A national keyword search conducted by K12 data tracker Burbio shows how often four big topics—including mental health and career and technical education—are covered at meetings nationally. Burbio has been providing regular updates on what school boards in the largest districts have been talking about.

Its most recent analysis looks at this year’s school board discussions in districts serving about half of the students in California, Florida, Texas, New England and parts of the Deep South. Not surprisingly, there’s some evidence of political lines being drawn, particularly around SEL and related topics.

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Student mental health has been an ongoing and major concern for administrators. Mental health and related terms such as “therapist” were mentioned at nearly half of the meetings in California and more than 40% of the sessions in New England, compared to just 13% in Texas.

The SEL divide is similar, though the term was mentioned less often in all parts of the country. Social-emotional learning was covered at nearly 40% of meetings in New England and more than 20% in California, compared to around 5% in Florida and Texas, both of which have laws restricting the teaching of sensitive topics such as race and LGBTQ issues.

CTE and security

Regional divides are narrower for career preparedness and safety. CTE was on the agenda at nearly 75% of Florida school boarding meetings, 63% in California and half of the meetings in the South.

Security was most common in Florida (78% of meetings), Texas (64%) and New England (54%).

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Another of his maxims for self-care is that you don’t have to be an expert to have hobbies. “I like to do woodworking even though I’m not very good at it,” he notes.

Lori Colbert, principal of the Barack Obama School of Leadership and STEM near Chicago, says she relies on a positive attitude.

“I am a very happy person,” says Colbert, whose building is part of Park Forest-Chicago Heights School District 163. “That’s a choice I make every day—I’m going to get through this day and have a smile on my face.”

Shying away from self-care?

The student mental health crisis and high turnover in K12 leadership have tilted the spotlight toward the wellness of K12 leaders. This fraught climate has left many superintendents, principals and other administrators seeking to devote more time to self-care. “The job is isolating,” says Daniel L. Frazier, a former longtime superintendent who is now an assistant professor of educational leadership at Midwestern State University in Texas. “At the pinnacle of the organization, you don’t have a peer group. You’ve got your team but they’re subordinates.”

He acknowledges that the growing politicization of education is one of the leading causes of stress. Schools have become a political pawn and some states, such as Texas, are not providing sufficient funding for K12 at a time when student needs are growing and teachers are demanding higher pay. Superintendents often bear the brunt of staff and community discontent, he suggests.

“The blame that is being heaped on superintendents is a real issue right now,” he warns. Frazier, who was a superintendent for 26 years, encourages his educational leadership students to form peer networks and participate in professional organizations. Such groups can make clear to school boards, communities and other stakeholders the challenges faced by superintendents and other administrators.

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He also recognizes that leaders are often reluctant to ask for help or make time for themselves for fear of showing vulnerability. Leaders may also have trouble delegating authority as they worry about having subordinates “outshine them,” he contends.”Good team leaders know to shut up and let other people talk,” he adds. “The longer I was in leadership, the more I encouraged team dialogue.”

McCord, of Gilbert Public Schools, follows this strategy and hires “really good people” to share the workload. “I’ve surrounded myself with phenomenal people who know what they’re doing,” he states. “When we have an initiative going on, when things need to get done, I go to sleep at night knowing our district is surrounded by phenomenal adults whose primary concern is kids.”

Sharee Wells, superintendent of Whitehall City Schools in Ohio, says her greatest joy is spending time with her kids. So, she tries to be present and shut out work as best she can when she’s with them. “A lot of times, as a district or school leader, you’re gone all the time,” she concludes. “The last thing I want to do when I’m home is be mentally gone.”

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As I went through my formal training, I soon discovered that a physical education teacher isn’t there just to train and inspire athletes; teaching a quality physical education program is about inspiring every child. By the time I finished my degrees in kinesiology and education, I knew I wanted to teach in ways that would positively impact every student—and inspire a love for movement along the way.

Our bodies need movement. It’s as vital to our health as good nutrition and clean water. Today’s physical education teachers are responsible for guiding all students along their physical literacy journeys and to give them the tools to incorporate the health-affirming, mood-boosting and social benefits of movement into their lives.

This process doesn’t look the same for everyone, so a quality physical education teacher learns to work with students individually to help them develop the skills to move their bodies in the ways that feel good to them. When physical education is modified to be accessible, meaningful, and fun, every student can build the confidence, competence and motivation to see movement as part of a healthy and joyful lifestyle.

What is inclusive physical education?

Inclusion is an integral part of a quality physical education program, yet some teachers struggle to support students with disabilities as they have limited training in those disabilities. Inclusive physical education is a teaching strategy used in general physical education programs. It creates an environment for all students, regardless of their skills, abilities and disabilities, to be successful.

In inclusive programs, no one sits on the sidelines. Everyone gets a chance to participate, no matter their physical abilities, cognitive capabilities or motor skills. It promotes cooperation, acceptance and empathy, and gives students opportunities to find commonalities and develop relationships with others.

Years ago, physical education classes tended to cater to (and reward) the strongest, most competitive students. Today, a high-quality physical education program, which, like any other subject,  has standards and assessments, is focused on learning, not performing.

Students aren’t necessarily there to memorize the rules of a sport or win a game. They’re there to understand how their bodies move and why they need to move, and to find feel-good ways to get moving—however that looks for them.

Getting started with inclusive physical education

Fortunately, there aren’t many barriers to implementing inclusion in your physical education programs. Most inclusive modifications don’t cost a dime. All they require from teachers is a willingness to expand their knowledge and a commitment to differentiated instruction—both of which are hallmarks of all quality educators.

A quality program involves differentiating instruction to meet your student’s needs, interests and abilities. The goal is for all students to participate in activities where they all have opportunities to participate, learn, and be successful.

Teachers can begin adapting their programs by focusing on five elements to get everyone participating and learning: instruction, rules, or cues; actions; time and tempo; boundaries; and equipment. It’s all about offering options.

For example, an inclusive physical education classroom might set different rules for various groups of students. If you have a student who has limited accuracy and coordination you can use stationary or suspended objects, larger balls or even deflated balls to allow for more control. If students have limited strength you can lower nets or goals, attach an implement to their wrist with a strap or allow them to sit rather than stand.

Other modifications might be to remove time limits for certain activities or slow the pace down to allow for better motor control. When you have a student with a visual impairment you can use brightly colored tossables, include a tee for striking, provide a constant sound source, or even attach a bell or continuous beeper to a ball.

Different types of equipment can also help students achieve a goal or grasp a new concept. For example, using a bigger racket with a shorter handle makes it easier to hit an object, as students have more control of the implement—or working with a pool noodle in place of a jump rope can slow the motion down enough to make the movement achievable. Sometimes simply giving students a choice of equipment lets them participate in more activities and allows them to experience those “I did it!” moments of joy when they master something new.

The biggest challenges can be awareness and training. Most physical education teachers are trained in the mechanics of movement and not necessarily the ins and outs of working with students with specific disabilities. But there’s a wealth of free workshops and resources, like webinars, articles, and blog posts from trusted sources, like the National Consortium for Physical Education for Individuals with Disabilities, SHAPE America, and the International Federation of Adapted Physical Activity.

Joining local or online communities of fellow educators is also a great way for teachers to get inspired, learn new ideas, and pick up modification techniques. Following hashtags such as #Physed, #AdaptedPE and #InclusivePE is a good way to find such communities, as is joining Facebook groups focused on adapted or inclusive physical education. State and local groups are also great places to find communities to join.

How administrators can support inclusive physical education

There’s every reason to start small and simple with inclusive physical education. Any incremental shift in instruction will benefit students. But there’s no reason to keep your vision for inclusion small. Once administrators know that the opportunity for change exists—and how few barriers there are to support the goal of inclusion and physical literacy for every single student—they can become valuable allies in accessing more resources.

In larger schools and districts, physical education coordinators can be the engine of change, acting as champions for inclusive practices by ensuring their teachers have the education and materials they need to succeed. School leaders can help teachers and coordinators seek out and apply for grants for more training and specialized equipment. Remember, these items don’t have to be exclusively reserved for physical education classes—they can also be used in other classrooms, at recess and in afterschool programs.

But how do you get buy-in from administrators? One thing that may impact higher-level support for inclusive physical education is people’s attitudes toward physical education. We’re all affected by our own childhood physical education experiences, which can be radically different. So start a conversation with administrators. Present research, share knowledge, invite feedback.

But the best way to educate school leaders is to offer them the chance to see what an inclusive and quality physical education program looks like in action. Show them how some basic modifications make movement accessible to everyone. They’ll see first-hand that inclusive, differentiated instruction works in the gymnasium like in any other classroom to boost engagement, learning and self-discovery.

Today’s focus on inclusion and physical literacy is about celebrating what each student’s body is capable of and allowing them to build skills that boost their confidence and motivation. With some simple shifts, an inclusive physical education program opens the door to a lifetime habit of physical activity by working with each student on building their personal movement vocabulary.

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Holman, a 28-year-educator, also stressed the importance of finding a balance in and outside of work: “When I was a classroom teacher, I taught students this phrase: ‘I will not allow any noun—that’s a person, place, thing or idea—to disrupt the climate of my day,'” Holman said. “I believe in protecting my space. When I leave the office, I leave the office.”

At Johnson City Schools, also in Tennessee, the final question asked by the superintendent during job interviews is, “What do you do to take care of yourself?” “It’s understood that you work hard in this school district and you need to carve out time to take care of yourself,” David Timbs, Johnson City’s supervisor of secondary and instructional technology, noted at the conference.

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Timbs is a member of a men’s workout group that meets four or five mornings a week for runs and other fitness activities. So how does he block the urge to do some work first thing in the morning? “You get so committed to the group, you feel guilty if you’re not out there with them,” he said, offering an additional piece of self-care advice: “It’s important to have friends outside of education.”

‘You cannot do this job in isolation’

Self-care for Superintendent of Minerva Garcia-Sanchez of Illinois’ DeKalb School District #428 is all about taking care of her employees and ensuring they have time to spend with the family or attend to other interests outside of work. “I need you to take of you,” Garcia-Sanchez said in a video interview. “Because if you don’t take care of you, you can’t take care of me and the district.”

She also encourages her employees to take their allotted time off rather than bank up vacation time. She lives by those words, too, and says that when she’s on vacation, only her assistant knows how to reach her in case of emergencies. She also tries hard not to take school politics personally.

“When you’re not joyful in your work, it’s added anxiety, stress and illness,” she pointed out. “We have to be willing to see that.”

Connecting with a community that has rallied around DeKalb’s schools is just one thing that motivates her to continue serving the district. Also, she, her husband and their three grown sons check in with each other regularly through group texts. “They’re very supportive of me, I’m very supportive of them and I always want to make sure we’re bonded,” she pointed out. “They really ground me.”

Spending time with colleagues via AASA, the School Superintendents Association, and similar groups of leaders helps Superintendent Wayne Vickers of Alabama’s Alabaster City School District stay motivated. The organizations, and their conference, in particular, are venues by which to share ideas and find solutions to challenges. Vickers said he relies on his “wonderful team of chiefs”—and his regular meetings with them—to share the responsibilities of running the district.

“It is as much for me to get things out in the open that I may be frustrated about as it is to listen to them,” he explained. “I just feel better about having that camaraderie. You cannot do this job in isolation.”

Fitness-wise, he has started an exercise regimen that includes trying to log 10,000 steps a day. “I think that the biggest factor in self-care is not letting the work overwhelm you,” Vickers asserted.

Tony Spence, superintendent of Waterford Graded School District in Wisconsin, listens to podcasts to motivate himself on walks and runs. His 7 a.m.-7 p.m. work schedule leaves only about 90 minutes for a workout, so he has been endeavoring to make healthier choices around eating less and exercising more. “I’m not going to serve the district in a hospital bed,” he declared in a video interview. “I have to keep my vitals in a good place.”

Micah Ward contributed to this report. 

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